With a beautiful day in the forecast, Jeanine and I decided to make a day tour of western Massachusetts and southern Vermont where foliage reports indicated we would find peak fall color.  Our first stop was the Natural Bridge State Park in North Adams.  Named for its natural bridge of white marble, unique in North America, the park also offers woodland walks with views of a dam made of white marble, and a picturesque old marble quarry.  The bedrock marble from which the natural bridge was created is estimated to be some 550 million years old. Water from glacial runoff began carving the arch after the last Ice Age, 13,000 years ago.

After enjoying lunch at the Freight Yard, we continued to the 93-foot-high, lighthouse-like Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower at the summit of 3,491-foot tall Mount Greylock, the highest point in the state.

We continued to Bennington and Brattleboro, Vermont before completing our 11-hour road trip.  Despite reports to the contrary, we did not find the foliage to be at peak color.  I suspect another few days or a week before that will be the case.